Pizza for dinner tonight! It will have garlicky cashew cheese, cilantro pesto, caramelized onions, spinach (sadly, the store was out of arugula), and artichoke hearts. Maybe some chickpea salad on the side.

_________________when you realise how perfect everything is, you will tilt you head back and laugh at the sky. -buddha

Pizza for dinner tonight! It will have garlicky cashew cheese, cilantro pesto, caramelized onions, spinach (sadly, the store was out of arugula), and artichoke hearts. Maybe some chickpea salad on the side.

I have a cold and wasn't feeling very good, so I attempted to make Sichuan 'numbing heat' soup for its warming/numbing qualities. I sauteed garlic, ginger, red chillies and pink peppercorns (not truly peppercorns but actually dried citrus berries, apparently) gently in half a cup of oil until all softened and fragrant (but not browning), then blended this with a spoonful of fermented black bean paste and some rice wine vinegar to make a sauce paste (making a jar full, as it wouldn't be practical to make less in the blender). Then I seared sliced aubergines and tofu pieces. When I was ready to bring it all together I heated up some broth (made out of a mixture of broth powder and marmite) and cooked some green beans in it for a couple of minutes, then ladled the whole thing into soup bowls on top of a spoonful of the spice paste, the seared tofu and aubergines and some chopped scallions. The pink peppercorns give it a numbing, tingly quality and then warmth spreads from the ginger and chilli. It's a really addictive sensation! I'm going to have to experiment with other uses for the rest of the jar of spice paste now.